Ekweremadu: Police detain 4 personnel, 1 NSCDC operative

Four Police officers and one personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, who were on duty at the residence of Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, when the alleged assassination attempt on him was made have been arrested.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing journalists in Abuja.

He said the arrested officers are being investigated and that there was no cover-up by the police in the investigation of the crime.

Moshood said: “The four policemen and one personnel of the NSCDC on duty at the residence of the deputy senate president at the time of the incident have been arrested and detained,” adding that further investigation had showed the incident was not an assassination attempt on Ekweremadu.

“Update on further investigation did not reveal assassination attempt but a burglary attempt,” he said.

The police spokesman said that the investigation so far showed that the suspects in the case did not know that the residence belonged to the deputy president of the senate.

He said efforts are being intensified to arrest the second suspect, Dan Ali, who escaped from the scene of the crime, even as he disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had directed the upgrade of Apo legislative quarters outpost to a divisional police headquarters.

Also to be upgraded are Supreme Court, Kabusa and Trademore estate, according to him.

The upgrade, he further expained was to reduce crime and criminal acts in the affected areas and improve police visibility in the FCT.

Speaking to newsmen, the key suspect, Mohammed Yusuf, 25, said they had only gone to Ekweremadu’s residence to steal and not to assassinate him.

“We did not go to the residence of Ekweremadu to assassinate him or anybody in the house,” he said.

It would be recalled that Ekweremadu, his wife and son, allegedly escaped assassination attempt at their Apo residence early Tuesday morning.